In the method of refining metallurgical grade silicon in order to produce pure silicon for solar cell production (solar grade silicon) it is known to remove boron by treatment of molten silicon with a calcium-silicate based slag. Such a method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,945. In order to remove boron from silicon to an acceptable low level it is necessary to use a slag having a low boron content.
For solar grade silicon there is also strict requirements to the content of phosphorous. Thus the phosphorous content of solar grade silicon should be less than 3 ppmw.
The slag treatment of silicon in order to remove boron also influences the phosphorous content of silicon. Thus the distribution coefficient between phosphorous in slag and phosphorous in silicon is very low and in the range between 0.1 and 0.3. If calcium-silicate based slag used to remove boron from silicon contains too much phosphorous, the phosphorous content of silicon can therefore be increased during the slag treatment. It is thus important to use a low phosphorous containing calcium-silicate based slag for removal of boron from silicon.
When preparing phosphorous containing calcium-silicate based slag from CaO and SiO2 it is difficult to find a CaO source having a sufficiently low phosphorous content. In order not to increase the phosphorous content of silicon during slag treatment the calcium-silicate based slag, the phosphorous content of the calcium-silicate based slag should be as low as possible and preferably well below 3 ppmw.